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IBM Touts Watson Supercomputer for Investors

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Investors, dermatologists and retailers could soon find their jobs becoming much easier thanks to IBM's(IBM - Get Report) Watson, as new developer partners make apps that could let them tap into Watson's super brain at any time, from any place right at their fingertips.

IBM Watson Group revealed on Friday three new developer partners who are building specialized "cognitive" apps in the cloud on the Watson developer platform for investors, retailers, dermatologists, and their customers.

The partners are Modulus, Reflexis Systems and Modernizing Medicine.

Modulus' SharpeMind is expected to leverage Watson technology to deliver real-time, on-demand analysis of massive quantities of unstructured data right to the mobile devices and desktop of investors. The data will be sourced from news feeds, governmental reports, and social media. Retail traders and fund managers will also be able to instantly access trading signals and consensus buy and sell recommendations via the app.

Modernizing Medicine is developing a Watson-powered app that's expected to help dermatologists offer optimal treatment options to patients with fast and accurate diagnosis. The schEMA app will contain a built-in database of medical content, utilizing Watson's natural language processing and hypothesis generation capabilities to simplify medical coding and speed-note taking. It'll be accessible through the cloud on the iPad and PC.

Reflexis Systems's Reflexis StorePulse is being developed with the goal of allowing regional and local-store managers keep their finger on the pulse of consumer behavior and trends. The app will issue alerts to the store managers based on local event and weather information among other datapoints to help them plan for their specific locations, and increase their chances of maximizing sales and profits.

IBM says these new partnerships underscore the company's efforts to keep bolstering its developer ecosystem as part of a broader plan to make the cognitive computing power Watson's known for the new standard of computing. IBM announced Watson as an app-development platform in the cloud last November.

Ginni Rometty, IBM's CEO, said at the company's annual analyst day meeting on Wednesday that IBM is anticipating a "very different" industry where "cognitive will be the foundation." She said that IBM will be the leader in this new computing world and "Watson is emblematic ... of that."